Tuesday 17 August 2010

Why we should say No to Hunterston Power Station

Friday is the final day by which objections can be submitted against the development of the “clean coal-fired” power plant proposed by Ayrshire Power.

I hope the application submitted by Ayrshire power to the Scottish government will be rejected for the following reasons:

1) The technology on which it is based is dubious and has not been tested in the large scale application envisioned by Ayrshire Power.
2) The increase in carbon dioxide emissions which such a development will undoubtedly bring about will make the national targets of Scotland’s Climate Change Act very difficult to achieve.
3) The development of the plant will be on a site of Special Scientific Interest SSCI which is supposed to be protected by law.
4) The development does not have the support of local people, nor of major environmental charities as evidenced by the campaigns organised against it.

The Church of Scotland is against this type of development. We have a moral responsibility of stewardship and care for the earth. The Church of Scotland addressed this responsibility in very concrete points by asking all of its congregations to reduce its carbon footprint both in church buildings and in their own lives. The Church is also a supporter and contributor to Eco-Congregation Scotland, a Scottish charity with over 250 congregations working to take action to care for the earth. Eco-congregation Scotland represents a huge number of people actively working in Scotland towards the reduction of carbon emissions.

On a personal level, and as part of my role as convener of the Church and Society Council, I have blogged against this particular issue and campaigned as part of the Stop Climate Change coalition to raise awareness on the importance of climate change. I therefore urge all of you to contact the Scottish Government Scottish Government at the Energy Consents Unit, 4th floor Atlantic Quay 150 Broomielaw Glasgow G2 8LU to lodge your objections against the proposed power station.

We have one week to say no.

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